


Smallville 7.10 review

by yourlibrarian



Series: Reviews [30]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Episode Review, Gen, Nonfiction, s07e10 Persona
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 09:14:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30103701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: Originally posted February 1, 2008.
Series: Reviews [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/465847
Kudos: 1
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	Smallville 7.10 review

I wanted to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the Smallville episode "Persona", which I watched thanks to James Marsters' appearance on it. While I thought the writing was still clunky, I found myself paying attention during the episode, and, surprisingly, thought that the moments with Lex were actually some of the least interesting.

I haven't seen anything on Smallville since JM's appearance in last season's finale. However I thought that there were some genuinely moving moments here, significantly with Lana and the Phantom Clark. The idea that one could only find happiness with someone you care for when they were not actually themselves, and Lana's reluctance to accept that this was the case, seemed to me something not often explored in stories. That the Phantom had also come to genuinely care for her, to the point where he didn't see her decision as a betrayal, was also a moment of surprising tension. Even though I was sure Lana would choose to destroy him, there was a moment there where I wasn't sure at all. Frankly, I think it would have been more interesting if she hadn't, but, just as with the murder of Julian, Smallville seems to go for the predictable.

Also interesting was that, although I know common wisdom has it that Welling and Kreuk are weak actors and Rosenbaum and Glover the strong ones, I found Glover's appearances to be overacted and somewhat stilted, whereas I found Welling pretty believable in both his roles and Kreuk to be downright touching in this episode.

Braniac's appearance seemed to be leading to other things. If he wasn't such a soulless character, one might also have been moved by his plight, and his desire to be repaired. I thought JM did his usual good job, trying to inject feeling into the character. I can only assume he'll be returning since otherwise there was no point in bringing him back for this one episode.

Lastly, I couldn't help noticing what a visually appealing show this is, everything is always in such stark contrasts. The wardrobe choices for Lana in particular were great. They seem to be moving her to a sophisticated Audrey Hepburn look. Maybe because they have 2 new female regulars they're trying to develop a distinct style for each (I don't know since it was only Chloe who also appeared here). Of course what was particularly funny was that the lovely white coat she wore in her scene with Chloe was also being worn by Amanda in the following SPN episode, "Malleus Maleficarum." Apparently there are only so many places for the wardrobe departments to shop in Vancouver!


End file.
